Sleep Problems Plague Older Americans
Toss. Turn.
Toss. Turn.
The elderly
population
suffers from
too few Z's
and is
equally
plagued by
frequent
wake-up
calls,
experts say.
Sleep
disorders
are a huge
quality-of-life
problem
because
contrary to
popular
belief,
seniors
require
about the
same amount
of sleep as
younger
adults.
"Sleep
(quality)
starts to
deteriorate
in the
mid-20s,"
said said
Dr. John
Penek,
director of
the Sleep
Disorder
Center at
Chilton
Memorial
Hospital in
Pequannock.
"But
insomnia is
very common
in the above
60
population."
The elderly
are more
susceptible
to
sleeplessness
or waking up
mid-snooze
due to pain,
having to go
to the
bathroom or
heartburn,
he said.
"There's
also an
increased
incidence of
sleep apnea
and periodic
limb
movement."
"Sleep
problems and
sleep
disorders
are not an
inherent
part of
aging," said
Dr. Harrison
G. Bloom, a
senior
associate at
the
International
Longevity
Center-USA
and
associate
clinical
professor of
geriatrics
and medicine
at the Mount
Sinai School
of Medicine
in New York
City. "It's
pretty much
of a myth
that older
people need
less sleep
than younger
people."
Yet, in a
study
published
recently in
The American
Journal of
Medicine,
researchers
found that
more than
half of
older
Americans
have
problems
getting the
shuteye they
need.
"Sleep
disturbance
in older
adults is
typically
associated
with acute
and chronic
illnesses,
including
specific
sleep
disorders
like sleep
apnea and
restless leg
syndrome
that appear
with greater
frequency in
older
populations,"
said Michael
V. Vitiello,
a professor
of
psychiatry
and
behavioral
sciences and
associate
director of
the
University
of
Washington's
Northwest
Geriatric
Education
Center.
As people
age, they
typically
develop more
diseases and
suffer from
aches and
pains.
"These
things can
disrupt
sleep, so
what they
may perceive
as a sleep
disorder may
actually
relate to
the effects
of some of
their other
medical
problems,"
said study
author Dr.
Julie
Gammack, an
assistant
professor of
medicine in
the Division
of Geriatric
Medicine at
St. Louis
University.
Taking
multiple
medications,
as many
older people
do, can also
lead to
fatigue and
"hypersomnia,"
or being
tired all
the time,
Bloom added.
Another big
problem, he
noted, is
depression
and anxiety.
"The average
physician
receives
very little
training
about sleep
disorders
and
typically
does not
routinely
screen
patients for
them," said
Vitiello,
who serves
on the board
of directors
of the
National
Sleep
Foundation.
As a result,
problems
like
insomnia,
restless leg
syndrome,
sleep apnea
and
circadian
rhythm
disorders
are
underdiagnosed
and
undertreated,
Bloom said.
REM
behavioral
disorder is
one such
sleep
ailment that
once
diagnosed is
relatively
easy to
treat,
Chilton's
Penek said.
During, REM
(or rapid
eye
movement)
sleep, the
entire body
is paralyzed
except for
the
diaphragm
and eyes.
During this
phase, the
daily events
are
processed
into
memories.
The
paralysis is
a protective
mechanism
that
prevents
humans from
physically
acting out
their
dreams, he
said.
"In REM
sleep
disorder, we
lose that
paralysis
and act the
dreams out,"
he said.
"It's more
common in
men and can
cause harm
to sleep
partners.
... There's
the case of
the husband
who mistook
his wife for
a deer. He
was dreaming
of hunting
and he shot
and wounded
the door and
broke his
wife's jaw."
Once
identified,
REM
behavioral
disorder
responds to
clonozapin.
To rectify
sleep issues
in the
elderly
population,
a national
coalition of
aging,
geriatric
medicine and
sleep
organizations
is currently
developing
guidelines
to promote
prevention,
diagnosis
and
treatment of
sleep
problems in
older
adults.
"The reason
we're
concerned
with these
problems,
besides a
major issue
on quality
of life and
being tired
the next day
and not
functioning
properly, is
that these
sleep
disorders
are
associated
with
hypertension,
diabetes,
pulmonary
disease,
heart
disease,
depression
and
anxiety,"
Bloom said.
This article
was first reported
in Daily
Record on
January 3,
2008.
Staff writer
Ellen S. Wilkowe and
Gannett
Newspapers
contributed
to this
story.
Copyright
©2007 Daily
Record.
This article
was
reprinted by
the National
Sleep
Foundation
for
educational
use by its
readers.
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NSF Background
The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is an independent nonprofit organization
dedicated to improving public health and safety by achieving greater
understanding of sleep and sleep disorders. NSF furthers its mission
through sleep-related education, research, and advocacy initiatives. NSF’s
membership includes researchers and clinicians focused on sleep medicine as
well as other professionals in the health/medical/science fields,
individuals, and more than 900 sleep clinics throughout North America that
join the Foundation’s Community Sleep Awareness Partners program.
NSF’s financial support comes from a variety of diverse sources, including
memberships, sales of educational materials, advertising, investment income,
individual donations, subscriptions, and educational grants from
foundations, federal agencies, and corporations including pharmaceutical and
non-pharmaceutical companies. Corporate grants are accepted on an
unrestricted basis only. NSF alone determines the ideas and content
published or promoted in its educational programs. NSF relies on positions
of government agencies, the published consensus of sleep and medical
professionals and peer-reviewed, publicized evidence for its public health
recommendations. A list of 2007 contributors can be found on NSF’s Web
site.
NSF does not solicit nor accept funding for its annual Sleep in America
polls; NSF polls are developed by an independent task force of sleep
scientists who provide guidance and expertise in developing the poll
questionnaire and analysis of the data. NSF can be found online at
www.sleepfoundation.org |
